D3 Individual State Finals

JACKSON, MI – In his four years of wrestling for Leslie High School, Zehlin Storr had self-expectations of near perfection.

His ultimate goal was to be a four-time state champion.

Although he fell short of that goal, the Leslie senior became a two-time state champion Saturday during the Division 3 individual state wrestling finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills. A 3-1 victory over Dundee’s Doug Rojem in the 140-pound weight class was his final stamp on an impressive four-year career, finishing with an unblemished 62-0 senior-season record.

“I set forth to be a four-time state champion, so in a sense, no, I didn’t do what I wanted, but I’m satisfied with this…my mind set was to go out and have fun, and whatever happened, happened,” Storr said. “It’s been an amazing four years. I’ve been around these guys since middle school and it’s been like family to me.”

Storr became very familiar with his opponent, Rojem, over the last few weeks having wrestled the Dundee senior in the district and regional finals. Storr defeated Rojem 5-3 in districts and 8-3 for a regional title.

Although Storr came out with the 3-1 victory on Saturday, he would have liked to have put more points on the board.

“I got one takedown and that’s all I needed,” Storr said. “Not that I was totally satisfied with that, because I like domination, but I did what I needed to do and ended on a good note.”

Zehlin’s younger brother, Kanen, didn’t fare so well earlier in the day in the 119-pound title match. Kanen, last year’s 103-pound state champion, drew Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Devin Schroder, last season’s 112-pound state champion.

Kanen came up short, 5-2, in pursuit of his second consecutive state title.

“It’s tough. It’s hard coming in here and knowing what you are doing and having it taken away from you,” Storr said. “It’s a lot of motivation, and I definitely don’t want to come here and lose again.”

Zehlin set the school record earlier in the season with 200 career wins and has since added to it, bringing his four-year total to 221 career wins. Zehlin has high hopes of his younger brother breaking that record.

“I’m not worried about it at all,” Zehlin said of Kanen breaking his record. “To be honest, I’d be disappointed if he didn’t.”

Also finishing as runner-up was Grass Lake’s Chad Decker, who wrapped up his final season as a Warrior at 34-3, bringing his four-year career record at Grass Lake to 161-38 overall.

Also making the Division 3 all-state list from the Jackson area was Napoleon’s Austin Swaenepoel with an eighth-place finish in the 215-pound weight class while Michigan Center’s Presley Kellogg finished fifth in the 285 weight class.